Missing Scottish tourist's hand found in tiger shark days after disappearing off French island: reports
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Researchers working off the coast of a French island in the Indian Ocean made a grisly discovery Wednesday after an autopsy conducted on a tiger shark’s stomach revealed the hand of a Scottish tourist who had been reported missing days earlier.
The victim, a 44-year-old tourist who has not been named, was identified by his wife after she recognized the wedding band on the hand found inside the shark’s stomach, Réunion La 1ère reported.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He was last seen snorkeling off the coast of Réunion, a French department 600 miles east of Madagascar, on Saturday.
The tourist's remains were only found after local researchers pulled five sharks from the Indian Ocean to study on Monday and Tuesday, The Guardian reported. The shark who had eaten the hand was found four miles from where the victim was last seen.
It was not immediately clear if he had drowned first or if he had died as a result of an attack.
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A spokesman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office told The Guardian: “We are providing support to the family of a British man who died while snorkeling in La Réunion and are in contact with the local authorities.”
According to the report, the area where the man died is considered high risk due to the presence of sharks, prompting officials in the summer of 2013 to partially ban surfing and swimming. There have been two reported shark-related deaths in the area this year.